Page 34 of Double or Nothing
Natasha reaches for the bottle to refill my glass for the fourth time. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this up since I’m already feeling the delicious buzz of the liquor spreading through my body.
When I reach for my glass again, Kit springs up from his perch and moves quickly to stand behind me. His welcome heat envelops me as he wraps his arms around me from behind.
“Your skin is freezing,” he says gruffly. “Are you almost finished here?”
“Yes, we’re finished, Cat Man,” Natasha responds as she slides off her stool. “I will contact you, Jade, once I have consulted with Eva. If she agrees with the financial arrangement, we’ll begin soon.”
Eager to move things forward, I press on. “Where is the slot machine?” I ask. “I’m ready to get started right away.”
“I’ll tell you everything soon,” she says. She then turns to Kit, her gaze running over his imposing figure. “Pleasure to see you again. You left quite an impression at Platinum the other night. Your grand entrance and exit were quite the talk among the women. Many of whom asked when you would be returning. If stripping ever strikes your fancy, our stage is yours.”
Kit frowns, his arms tightening around me. “No, thank you,” he replies, his voice politely clipped. “I don’t dance.”
Laughing, she dismisses his discomfort with a wave of her hand. “I’m joking,” she says. “Clearly you’re already spoken for.”
“Yes, I am,” he agrees.
“I’ll be in touch soon,” Natasha says to me before disappearing through the same door she arrived from.
“Well, I guess that means it’s time to go,” I say, standing. “If I can make it to the car after drinking all that vodka. I thought she’d never stop pouring.”
“I’ve got you.” Kit slides an arm around my waist and ushers me quickly out the door and back into the bright sunshine. “I should’ve warned you about drinking with Europeans. They learn at an early age how to hold their liquor better than we can.”
“I’m fine,” I tell him. “For now. Ask me again in thirty minutes when the vodka hits me full force.”
“By then, you’ll be back in your own house, safe and sound,” he assures me.
“You mean your house,” I remind him. “I’m homeless at the moment.”
“My house is your house,” he says, squeezing my hand. “I want you to think of it as your home now.”
“What about the other guys? How would they feel about me moving in permanently at your ranch?”
He doesn’t speak for a moment. “I’ve been meaning to bring up an idea I have to them. Especially after last night’s developments. My house is huge, with tons of empty space. Plus, the ranch has many acres that’s not being used for the animals. What would you think about Vulcan and Seven moving out to the ranch, too?”
“Really?” I’m shocked. “You would invite them to live there?”
“Sure, why not?” he replies as if it’s no big deal. “Our first priority right now is to keep you safe. We can’t expect you to keep moving from ranch to penthouse to RV every other day, depending on our work schedules. It’s ridiculous and you need space of your own. If nothing else, maybe they would consider staying at the ranch temporarily until things calm down.”
“Would they agree to do that? Personally, I love the idea of everyone being together, but I can’t see either of them giving up their own place to move.”
He turns to smile down at me. “You underestimate how much we all want to be with you. Maybe you can be the one to convince them to give it a try. There’s one other reason it might be a good idea, and that’s Vulcan. I’ve never liked the thought of him being out in the desert all alone as much as he is. Now that we know he’s been doing stupid stuff like playing Russian Roulette every night out there by himself, it’s even more incentive to bring him in closer to us. He needs us now more than ever.”
I nod back at him. “I couldn’t agree with you more about Vulcan.”
“There’s even room for him to bring his RV or another one if he misses his personal space,” Kit suggests. “He could park it way out on the back side of the ranch. If he needed space to breathe, he could go hide out there to be alone.”
“That’s a wonderful idea,” I tell him. “What about Seven, though? He’s the one who is having the toughest time dealing with everything. Would he be happy giving up his fancy penthouse to stay with us?”
“Seven doesn’t care about his luxury lifestyle and never did,” Kit says. “It’s all a front he puts on for his celebrity image. It can’t hurt to invite him, right? The worst he can do is say no. Don’t worry about Seven. He needs time to accept how things are now and then he’ll be onboard.”
“I hope so,” I say. “I’m still worried. He seemed quite upset this morning.”
“I talked to him while you were in the shower and laid things out,” Kit says. “Trust me, he’ll come around. Things will be fine. We caught him by surprise, that’s all.”
“We can’t let him walk away from us for good. He told me he’ll be back at your house tonight, so I’ll present your plan to them then. There’s something else I need to go over with you, too.”
“Did Natasha agree to work with you?” Kit asks, his tone growing more serious.
